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Cornell’s immigration initiatives combine direct representation, policy innovation, and experiential learning to serve vulnerable communities while providing students with hands-on legal training.
Building on the success of a webinar-based op-ed writing training last fall, MHRP is expanding this work with additional sessions designed to help participants develop the skills to write and publish their own op-eds. These trainings will feature journalists, communication experts, and lawyers who provide practical guidance and facilitate the sessions. Beyond the trainings themselves, MHRP will support participants by reviewing draft op-eds and, when possible, helping connect them with news outlets beyond their local paper, expanding the reach of their stories.
Learn more about the project and register for upcoming trainings.
The Immigration Law and Advocacy Clinic (ILAC) focuses on innovative work on behalf of undocumented communities through the Path2Papers Project; for those seeking humanitarian relief, such as asylum; and for detained immigrants.
As part of Cornell Law’s Migration and Human Rights Program, the clinic is at the forefront of human-rights work in the national context.
Launched in 2020, ILAC is one of few clinical courses admitting 1Ls nationally.
Recent stories from the clinic:
The Cornell Legal Information Project is a collaboration between several Cornell Law School clinics, including the Immigration Law and Advocacy Clinic, Farmworker Legal Assistance Clinic, Prison Education Practicum, and Movement Lawyering Clinic. This project brings together Cornell Law School immigration and constitutional law experts, people with lived experience of migration, students, and other community partners to design and deliver rights-based trainings and immigration detention resources to meet community needs for immigration information while simultaneously providing Cornell students (graduate/law and undergraduate) with educational experience in learning and disseminating legal information. Together, faculty and students from these clinics have been supporting communities in Tompkins County and rural New York to prepare individuals, families, businesses, institutions, and organizations for possible immigration enforcement actions, to know their rights and risks during an enforcement action, and to respond quickly and appropriately after an arrest. The project has also been presenting legal information in immigration detention centers.
Recent news story about the Legal Information Project:
Path2Papers explores employment-based immigration pathways for DACA recipients and other Dreamers who have grown up in the United States but remain without permanent status. Through direct representation, practitioner resources, and policy advocacy, the project helps expand access to long-term immigration solutions.
Recent stories from Path2Papers:
The State Policy Advocacy Clinic at the Brooks School of Public Policy gives undergraduate and MPA students hands-on experience working with legislators, government officials, and community organizations on concrete state-level policy solutions. Student teams research, design, and advocate for reform across a range of policy areas, from immigrant rights and health care to criminal justice and economic development.
Recent stories from the clinic:
Students Adriana Gonzalez ’27 and Gabby Dimaté ’27 meeting with a client of the 1L Immigration Law and Advocacy Clinic.
Faculty and students visited the Batavia Detention Center.
Maria Santa, Eeshaan Chaudhuri, and Kate Zavuholnik, students in the State Policy Advocacy Clinic, drafted and presented a resolution that would allow New York State high schools to train students on the use of Narcan. The Tompkins County Legislature unanimously adopted it!
Cornell Law alum Krsna Avila ’17 (at right), legal director of Path2Papers, meets with Adriana Gonzalez ’27, a student in the 1L Immigration Law and Advocacy Clinic.
State Policy Advocacy Clinic students Katrina Greene and Adrian Gomez traveled to Albany to advocate, together with The New Economy Project, for the Stop Taking Our Pay Act (SB 9839/ A9644). This bill would protect working people by classifying wage advances as loans, subject to existing interest rate caps.
MHRP’s labor migration initiatives combine direct legal services, community partnerships, and policy advocacy to address the needs of farmworkers and other underserved workers.
The Agricultural Workforce Stabilization Project combines direct legal services, community partnerships, and practical tools to strengthen support for farmworkers and rural immigrant communities. In collaboration with regional partners, the project created an interactive map of immigration legal service providers in Upstate New York, improving access to legal assistance while identifying areas of unmet need.
Working with partners in New York and beyond, the project is developing models that can be replicated at land-grant universities nationwide.
Cornell Law School’s Farmworker Legal Assistance Clinic provides direct representation in immigration and worker rights matters while training students through real-world advocacy.
Students have represented farmworkers in federal court, immigration court, and community-based legal initiatives throughout the United States.
Recent news:
Students in the Farmworker Legal Assistance Clinic visited the United Farm Worker Foundation on a trip to Bakersfield, California.
Joe Shepard ’27, Davis Postell ’26, and Paige Osgood ’26 with their client, Jaime, who was illegally detained for more than two months after being swept up in a raid in Upstate New York. The Farmworker Legal Assistance Clinic worked tirelessly to secure his release and help him continue on his path to apply for a green card.
Migration is a global phenomenon that requires global solutions. MHRP works across jurisdictions to strengthen migrant rights protections through strategic litigation, research, and international collaboration.
The Global Strategic Litigation Council for Refugee Rights (GSLC) is a worldwide network of more than 700 lawyers, refugee leaders, and academics advancing migrant rights through coordinated litigation.
Originally incubated by MHRP and The New School, the Council has helped secure landmark decisions and contributed to the release of hundreds of migrants from detention. Cornell students work directly with Council members through the Transnational Disputes Clinic.
The Migrant Rights Initiative conducts interdisciplinary research and develops practical tools for advocates, governments, and policymakers.
Its flagship project, the Migrant Rights Database, measures how countries protect migrant rights across a standardized set of indicators, providing one of the most comprehensive comparative resources available.
The Transnational Disputes Clinic prepares students to work on complex cross-border disputes involving migration, human rights, and international law.
Students have litigated federal cases, participated in international forums, and collaborated with leading human rights organizations while contributing to the development of migrant rights law worldwide.
Recent news from the GSLC and the Transnational Disputes Clinic:
Maria Giovanna Jumper ’24 traveled to Warsaw, Poland, to presenting work from the Transnational Disputes Clinic at the European Consultation on Strategic Litigation and Legal Advocacy for Refugee and Migrant Rights.
The Transnational Disputes Clinic filed an amicus brief on behalf of 51 immigrants’ rights organizations in Trump v. Barbara, a case challenging the administration’s executive order seeking to narrow the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship.
Courtney Bell ’26 and the Transnational Disputes Clinic filed an amicus brief in the DC Circuit in the RAICES case on behalf of a of Human Rights Watch, Physicians for Human Rights, and Refugees International, among others.